May: The Tiniest Assassin
by SageGibbsy
Summary: May is an upbeat girl with a complicated relationship to aging and a lineage that puts her on the top of an illegal companies "wanted list". This girl has known nothing but imprisonment her entire life... Well that and vigorous training to make her the most unsuspecting assassin on their edge of the galaxy. Contains just a hint of GotG.
1. Chapter 1

"My name is May!" the little girl yelled.

The guard pushed her back into the holding cell, slid a small window on the door open and bellowed, "Nobody cares!" before slamming it closed again.

Light flooded in from a dusty bulletproof window on the other side of the 20x20 metal room and May noticed that nobody had bothered to change the sheets. Three other girls, two older and one younger than May sat together on the bottom of the far right bunk bed.

"May, you're gonna get in trouble if you keep yelling at the guards like that." The girl who had spoken was the youngest, named Danielle although outside of this room she went by 24.

May walked over to her own bottom bunk labeled 6 and peered at the sheer covers that were still slightly damp. Danielle hung her head and whimpered.

"I'm sorry," she whined. "I had a bad dream… I tried to clean it up before it dripped onto your bed."

"I'm not mad at you," said May. "Not in the slightest. It's stupid that we live like this. We don't deserve this."

"That's east for you to say." The girl named Venus and called 12 had spoken up. Her older sister that they only knew by 2 stayed predictably silent and aloof in the corner. Venus proceeded to wave her hands around as she talked. "You're the only one that still has a mother. She even still visits you. Our parents didn't want us, that's why we're here."

A guard clambered noisily down the hallway and when they were sure he was gone, they returned to talking. May crossed her arms and refused to sport a hushed tone.

"Don't you guys get it? We're all equal slaves here. My mom was kidnapped and had me here. And don't think for a second that your parents had any more say in the matter than she did."

That was part of the story. May clutched the locket that was barely attached to her charm bracelet, running through everything she couldn't tell her friends. It was true that her mother, Sharon Carter, had probably been taken just to get to May. Her mother was very honest about this in their short visits. Apparently she had no idea she was even pregnant when the illegal space agency known as Vintex took her from her home. That was 6 months ago, which made May 3 months old to the day despite looking, thinking, and acting ~ 6 years.

It was obvious why Vintex wanted her so badly. So far in her life, she had been through two major transformations. The doctors here referred to them as "growth spurts", where for some unknown reason she would become very sick for about a week, all leading up to a type of seizure or fit that caused her to unexplainably grow and mature by several years. It was incredibly painful, and each time the trauma brought her closer to death. The doctors predicted that she wouldn't even be able to survive the next wave which was due in about one month. Perhaps this was the reason May had been so reckless lately. She reached up, patting on one of her blonde pigtails that had come loose during her earlier training session. The others watched as she walked over to the sad excuse for a mirror hovering above the dirty sink and redid her hair, brushing out the tangles with her fingers.

"How was it today?" asked Danielle. "Did they tell you our new mission?"

May nodded and everyone, including 2 leaned forward in anticipation.

"You know that big company in the smack dab middle of the town center? I think they do something with the water."

They nodded eagerly.

"And you know the big boss guy that runs the place? He walks around the Glasscenter shopping mall in a fancy suit sometimes and is always followed around by a bunch of security dudes."

They nodded once more.

"Yeah, we're going to kill him," May announced.

"Yes!" Venus and Danielle exclaimed in unison. 2 smiled and moved out of the way when her sister started punching the air in excitement.

"Wait," said Venus. "Who gets to do it? Who gets to actually kill the guy?"

"Well," May thought on this. "You and 2 are too big to fit through a sky trapdoor, and Danielle doesn't like to kill with a gun…"

"it's not natural," Danielle said defensively. She had always been more of a hands on worker.

Venus groaned and crossed her arms.

"You always get the kill. We're just your setup crew."

May dropped her smile. She pawed at the ground with a foot before sheepishly voicing her thoughts.

"You guys… Do you think there may be… better ways to live? Being an assassin can't be our only option."

Venus squinted.

"Don't tell me you have another crazy idea to get us out of here."

"Just hear me out," May started.

The girls groaned.

"Nobody on the entire planet of Lawkus knows about Vintex. All we have to do is get the word out…"

"And they'll kill us and move on."

Everyone turned to look at 2 who kept her eyes on the nails she was trying to bite off.

May walked cautiously over to her quiet roommate.

"This isn't life," she pleaded. "Please. You've been here longer than anyone else. You have to know something."

2 pulled her hand back, examining her work.

"There's a spaceship that cruises around at receiving level. It's maintained by the Humanitarian Effort, and if we shot a video to their servers… It might be our best chance."

"That's amazing…"

2 cut her off.

"I'm only telling you this because I saw your chart, May."

May blinked. She felt cold.

"How much did you see?" she asked quietly.

2 shrugged.

"Just your expiration date. If you're gonna up and die in a month, then that means we'll be stuck here for good. You're our best chance to escape."

May could feel their eyes on her like tiny knives were slicing her open from every angle. She put on a brave face and smiled.

"It's fine," she said. "You're right. We gotta get out. Gotta keep moving. So, we have our mission. Kill that guy in a suit and… and… wait a minute. How will the Humanitarian Effort help us? They aren't soldiers."

"They're contractors. They'd reach out to the closest team to do a full sweep and take out Vintex," 2 explained.

"And who's that?"

"That's be the Guardians of the Galaxy."

"Right!"

May put her hand out and the others piled theirs on top of hers, forming a circle.

"Kill that guy in a suit and get the Guardians to wipe out Vintex!"

The girls counted to three and threw their hands up repeating the mission just at the right volume to be unheard by the guards.

"KILL THAT GUY IN A SUIT AND GET THE GUARDIANS TO WIPE OUT VINTEX!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Number 6. Visitor." The guard slammed that small window on the door harder than it was used to being slammed, causing it to fall off entirely. He awkwardly tried to mush it back into place while the girls stifled their laughter.

"Jerry!" the guard whisper-yelled. "Jerry… the door slider broke off. What do I do?"

"God Richard, just toss it over there."

The scrap of metal scraped against the ground as it was tossed away. When the door opened, Richard the guard pointed to May, trying to regain his composure.

"Number 6! Let's go!"

She rolled out of bed with a smile and followed him down the hall.

The door to the visiting room had four locks and another two heavy bars holding it in place. May was mostly sure that it was just for show, as was pretty much everything Vintex did. They were a small amateur company that kidnapped children and trained them to kill people with bounties on their heads. Not exactly a place anyone was fighting to work for.

After the two guards needed to open the door succeeded, another one escorted May into the room and led her to a table and two chairs in an otherwise empty room. She began to run when she realized who had been brought to see her.

"Mom!"

Sharon Carter knelt out of the chair to hug May. May had always known her mother to have dark circles under her eyes, hollow cheeks, and dirty hair. It was nothing out of the ordinary to be exhausted and hopeless when you're a slave at Vintex.

"Where are they going?" she whispered to her mother.

For once the guards had left the room, and as soon as they closed the door behind them May and Sharon were completely alone.

Her mother seemed to be fighting with herself.

"May, you're old enough for the truth right?"

She nodded eagerly in response.

"Good, because I think it's for the best." Her mother took a deep breath before continuing. "They want us to start bonding in case they have to use me as leverage to get you to do what they want. That's why we're allowed to be alone."

The walls offered no pity when May stared at them, but she kept her eyes locked on them regardless. It was better than seeing her mother cry. After a bit she cleared her throat and asked another question.

"May, have you opened the locket I gave you?"

"No, I didn't know it could open at all…"

Sharon smiled and pressed the button on the side of the rusted silver heart. A satisfying * **pop** * followed and May's curiosity took over. She peeked inside and stared at the picture that had been carefully tucked behind a bit of clear plastic to hold it in place. It showed a man with dark blonde hair, light eyes, and a massive grin.

"Wow," said May. "I don't know anybody that looks that happy."

"His name is Steve Rogers."

"Never heard of him."

"No, I don't suppose you would have."

May looked at him again, squinting at the tiny photograph.

"Why's he in my locket?" she asked.

Sharon paused to steady her voice.

"He's your dad."

"Oh."

Their time was up as quickly as it had come. Two guards led May out of the room and she turned around just in time to wave goodbye to her mother before the door shut with a loud bang. The guards led her straight to the auditorium as it was past time for her daily training. As they walked, May's head was filled with her thoughts.

She had never thought about the fact that she had a father, and now that she knew… she couldn't care less. He was millions of miles away on Earth. Not like he could ever do anything for May or her mother way over there.

They reached the entrance to the auditorium which required another set of stupid locks to be opened in order to pass. May kicked at a scuff on the floor as she waiting for them to put her ankle monitor on and let her inside.

She wondered if this Steve-guy even missed her mother. If what she had told May was true, then she'd been missing for 6 months, and if he was the good guy she had promised he was… then surely he'd be worried.

A guard clicked her monitor around her ankle and it flashed blue and blinked. The door opened and she was led inside.

"No running off now." The guard laughed at this but May was listening.

If her mom had no idea she was even pregnant when Vintex captured her, then her dad had no idea that May could possibly exist. If he ever saw her, the shock of suddenly having the equivalent of a 6 year old daughter must be mind-blowing.

'No,' she reminded herself. 'You'll never meet him in your life so don't even think about it.'

"May's here!" Danielle bounced over to her, slinging a mace around as she approached. "We're going over the drill to kill the suit guy."

"His name is Mallory Mason. 24, you need to remember that."

Their training instructor, a surprisingly commanding man named Barry sauntered over and began berating the guards.

"She was supposed to be here half an hour ago. What the hell took you so long?"

The guards glared at him, backing up to take their places at the front door.

Barry wasn't nice, nor did he project any kind of inviting presence, but he was still the only person that the girls could have an ounce of trust in. He tossed 4 hula hoops into the air and they each hovered parallel to the ground about one foot from the floor.

Each girl stood in front of their hoop. When his whistle blew, they began their routine of hopping over the rings left and right as quickly as they could.

"Keep track of your own sets," said Barry. As they jumped he paced around in front of them. "You have your first mission tomorrow, as I'm sure you're aware now. I know the drill sergeant went over the specifics of the case and mission, and this is our last group session to learn the drill. So when you're in the moment tomorrow, just remember: Mallory Manson has a 20 million dollar bounty. If you mess this up, Vintex will probably kill you."

He blew the whistle again and they stopped jumping, each girl breathing heavily but not in the slightest bit tired.

"And we can't have that, can we?"

"No," they answered in unison.

"Right. You four are my most promising group so far. If you don't fail tomorrow, you'll make formidable assassins one day, I just know it." A hint of a smile danced under his beard and the girls beamed with pride. Barry clapped his hands together and pointed to Danielle.

"Number 24. You're going to be setting off the entire operation. How do you feel about chainsaws?"

It was all Danielle could do to stop from drooling.

"I love chainsaws."

"Great. All right team. We've got five hours in here. Let's get this down to a T for the big day tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

The well-concealed van bump-bumped down the road and May click-clicked the gun's magazine into place. Barry sat beside her in the backseat, adjusting her sparkly pink backpack and ordering her to keep her weapons strictly out of sight.

"Security is crawling all over the place at Manson Corporate. You're going to have to watch every step you take.

May tucked the gun into the inside pocket in her bright yellow jacket. Vintex had insisted that she dressed appropriately for the part, and although she had pretended to hate the light up sneakers, she secretly loved them.

The van pulled up at Manson Corporate just as the majority of the workers were heading out to lunch. Barry pointed at the front door.

"Just walk right in, you know the plan. Don't get caught."

A walkie talkie buzzed in the cup holder and a static-y voice spoke from it.

"24 has taken out the outdoor generators with manual force. Primary security cameras are reading offline. Patrol will be on high alert, but general employees haven't been notified as expected. 6 is ready in position."

Barry reached over her and opened the door.

"That's your cue."

May hopped from the van and her flashing shoes hit he sidewalk with a confident thud. The dumbest grin she could muster spread across her face as she walked to the giant glass doors and went inside.

Even with lunch starting 10 minutes ago, the lobby was still streaming with people. May set her sights on the receptionist who was too busy being flustered by the mountains of paperwork to see anything suspicious about the little girl in the yellow jacket.

"Excuse me ma'am," May squeaked up to her.

The receptionist looked up for one second and then back to her papers.

"What is it sweetie?"

"I'm supposed to meet my dad for lunch."

"What's his name?"

"He said to meet him on floor 5."

The receptionist squinted at one of her emails and absentmindedly handed May the keycard for floor 5. She took it, said thank you, and booked it to the nearest elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, two men in nice suits stepped out and bumped past her like she was invisible. This was perfect. The elevator attendant took her keycard and punched in the buttons while May joined a security guard in the elevator. Suddenly, she wasn't invisible anymore.

The guard looked at her over his nose and she smiled innocently to him.

The door dinged as they went up and May knew she had to think fast to draw his suspicion away.

"Dad's taking me to lunch today," she announced.

The guard and the attendant looked at her.

"He said we can go to the sandwich shop I like and then to get ice cream, but that's only because I did good in school this month because I've been staying after school to get help from the teachers but that's only because mom's new boyfriend can't pick me up anymore so I have to take the late bus."

The attendant listened, nodding and smiling but the guard had looked away.

Success.

The door sounded a final ding and May bounced out as soon as the elevator doors opened. She turned around and waved.

"Bye bye!"

The guard grimaced and waved just a little.

Floor 5 wasn't the restricted access hall she needed to be on, but Manson Corporate had no idea that their super-secret rooms were perfectly accessible from the low-security floor 5.

She made her way down the hall, nodding and smiling to people when they came. The hall curved left, left, right, and then May ducked into the bathroom with the "closed for cleaning" sign on its door.

Number 2 was sitting on the counter when she entered.

"Took you long enough."

"Eat it," said May.

She followed 2 to the back where a screen leading to the A/C vents had been popped open revealing a long and dark tunnel that snaked around the top of the building.

"Mallory Manson is in the service room while they inspect the cameras, but he'll be leaving soon so you need to hurry," said 2.

"He'll sure as hell be leaving."

May let 2 give her a boost and she ungracefully scrambled into the vent. 2 handed her the final keycard before popping the vent cover back into place.

May stowed the keycard in her pocket. She was very glad that she had enough room to crawl on her hands and knees instead of having to slither along like an inchworm. It made the going faster and before long the tunnel made one sharp right before opening up to a room below. May dropped down into the storage room and brushed the dust from her knees before opening the door out to another hallway.

This one had no people walking around. Instead, she was able to walk right up to the door labeled "service", scan the top-level keycard, and slip right in.

The service room was grand. It was also completely empty. Chances were that Mallory Manson was being kept secluded until the primary security cameras could be fixed. It wouldn't be long until they discovered that the outdoor generators had been demolished by Danielle's love of chainsaws.

The man of the hour's voice echoed off the walls. He was too busy yelling on his phone to notice her and it wasn't until he hung up that she bothered to approach him.

It's always cool seeing a famous person up close. May had only ever seen Mallory from a distance. Cameras, news reporters, fans, protestors, and an entire economic class had always stood between them. She also remembered the news revealing how his blatant disregard for pollution caused an entire village's water to become contaminated. This man had a lot of blood on his hands.

But now she was here, and she could see every makeup covered wrinkle on his face, the perfect stitching in his collared suit, and every detail to his surprised face when she strode up to him.

"Wha…?"

She grinned, her smile stretching so far that it showed her missing front teeth that had fallen out the night before.

"Hi!" she said.

The gun slid with ease from her pocket.

Her finger hit the trigger with calm familiarity.

And the bullet tore through his perfect suit and landed straight into his heart.

Dismay crossed his face before his legs buckled and his body came crashing to the floor.

May smiled, pulled the harness from her sparkly backpack and clicked it around herself.

A ceiling tile above her popped open and a cable dropped down which she hooked to the front of the harness. It pulled her up quickly and Venus took her hand and pulled her into the vent.

"That was so cool," Venus said.

They slid the cover back and crawled along the vent until a ladder leading up to the roof came into view.

A distant alarm went off as they were climbing.

"Oh shit. Let's hurry." Venus pushed the overhead door open and they crawled out onto the roof where Barry was waiting. He waved them over to the edge of the building.

"The fire escape! Go, hurry, get to the van."

Their feet flew down the rickety stairs that were barely attached to the edge of the building. The alarms were louder now. Screams could be heard from inside and sirens were making their way to the scene. As soon as they hit the sidewalk the door to the van flung open and May and Venus jumped in, slamming the door behind them.

Only a few moments passed before Barry joined them in the backseat.

"Let's go!" he yelled to the driver.

They passed two emergency vehicles on their way back to Vintex.

"Are we good?" asked May. "Did we do it?"

"Yes." Barry breathed out and leaned back against the seat. "2 and 24 have been safely evacuated. We'll be back to base around the same time."

May and Venus looked at each other, promptly bursting into laughter.

"We did it!" May squealed.

"We're assassins!" Venus echoed.

Barry let them laugh and holler.

"I'm proud of you guys. Not a single hiccup. You're pros."

The girls beamed with pride.

They were dropped off at Vintex and led back to their room by the usual guards. Danielle and 2 met them there and the girls high fived and congratulated each other until the cell door closed and locked behind them. When she was sure they were alone, 2 pulled out a video recorder from her jacket.

"I got it from the security room I raided," she whispered. "Do you still want to do this?"

May took it, turning the camera over in her hands and thinking.

"Yes," she finally said. "Nothing's changed. We're not free and we never will be. Our message has to be put out there."

Her roommates nodded in agreement.

"It's been 6 months. Why else would I be here?"

Steve leaned against the counter top. He fumbled for the water faucet, finally managing to flip it to full blast. His hands cupped the cold water and he threw it on his face and leaned back. Tony held back, watching him with concern.

"I know. And you came to me when it was 3 months. And 3 weeks." He walked closer when Steve refused to look at him. "You can't keep coming here We have everyone in the agency looking for her. And you won't do her any good when you get carted off and locked in a cell. Do you remember that time you went against the entire government to protect Bucky, who was at the time, a suspected fugitive? Because I sure as hell know that they haven't forgotten that little event at all."

"Thanks for that."

"Do you want me to lie to you? Steve, you're on thin ice. You have to lay low."

"People don't just disappear. What reason would anyone have for taking her if it's not to get back at me somehow?"

Tony tossed a towel to him and threw his hands up.

"I don't know. Nobody does. But we're working on it, I promise."


	4. Chapter 4

May flipped the video camera over in her hands, pushing buttons and trying to make sense of the blinking lights and odd symbols.

"How'd you get it?"

"I nabbed it from information," said 2. "It was in the discard bin so I doubt they were tracking it."

"We've got one shot. Gotta make this good."

A small switch above the screen looked promising so May flipped it on. The tiny screen lit up with a view of the floor and the other girls looked on in awe.

"Looks like we've only got half battery to work with." Danielle pointed to a flashing icon and the girls nodded.

"Alright then. Let's do this. Venus and 2. You guys stand over by the beds and you'll do… I dunno. Whatever comes to mind. Then I'll pan over to Danielle, and remember guys- look sad. As pitiful as you can manage."

The girls watched through the footage they had shot once or twice before May switched the camera off to save the battery.

"I think that will work."

Danielle pouted.

"But my hair looks so… poufy."

A sharp rap on the door grabbed their attention. The girls collectively batted the camera underneath a pillow before standing to greet the guard.

"Be at the training hall in 10 minutes," he commanded.

The guard turned and left as promptly as he'd come. Venus punched May in the arm which provoked a confused look from her.

"We don't have an escort!" Venus hissed with excitement. "May! No escort!"

May grinned.

"Which means we can smuggle the video out of here much easier."

Venus' mouth twisted as she looked at the others.

"I dunno… Maybe… Maybe it's not so bad here."

2 punched her sister.

"How can you say that?"

Venus tossed her hands up in defense and cast her eyes down.

"It's just… we finally got their trust."

"That means nothing. Don't be an idiot." 2 pulled the camera from the pillowcase and slipped it into May's training bag. "I'm not letting you compromise our freedom."

Venus' second thoughts were worrying, but hopefully in 24 hours it wouldn't matter. There was a transmitter in Barry's room and if she used that to beam the video up to the Humanitarian Effort in their orbiting ship, then they should be rescued in no time. The biggest concern now was making sure that Vintex didn't catch whiff of what they were up to.

Another guard came by to unlock their door and the girls began to walk unsurely to the training room. The sudden taste of freedom was intimidating. They were still watched at every turn, but not having someone looming over their necks was another matter altogether.

Two guards met them at the gym door to undo all of the pointlessly complicated locks. Once they were inside, May was able to slide her bag with the camera under a long wooden bench before anyone noticed.

After their ankle monitors had been put on, the guards resumed their place by the doors and the girls went out onto the main floor to meet with Barry.

Their training instructor stood at the front of the room as usual, but this time he was joined by a young-looking man with broad shoulders, grey hair, and towering height.

"Team," said Barry. "This is President Chase. He's been overseeing our project here at Vintex."

So this was the man that imprisoned them, ruined their families, and trained them to kill. It'd be an honor to watch him fall.

"It's nice to meet you." Chase talked in a straight-to-the-point low, husky voice. "Your team will produce impressive results for some upcoming projects."

"Alright," Barry clapped his hands together. "Let's do a basic drill today."

Their session was easy enough. May had a feeling that it was just to prove to President Chase that they could do... something effortlessly. Barry set up several obstacles such as hoops, tires, and ropes that hung from the ceiling and after each girl finished the course in good timing, they moved to individual showcases. May knew this would be the perfect chance to sneak into Barry's office and send the video.

Venus was up first and in order to give May time, she went over the top. Venus was always the best at quick movements and her sparring match against 2 had both Barry and Chase's full attention. May slid the bag from under the bench and carefully made her way behind the President to the office door. The girls could see her, but they knew better than to draw attention by staring.

The door silently swung open and May disappeared into the tiny and dark room. Papers were strewn all across his desk, various certificates hung crooked from the wall, and the transmitter sat stowed away under the desk, blinking away with a faint green light.

"Alright. Now how do I…"

May poked the machine. Her heart nearly beat out of her chest when she thought it might make a noise. After fiddling with some cords for much longer than she wanted to, she finally found one that fit into the back of the recorder. A tiny dim screen lit up on the transmitter and she scrolled through a preprogrammed list until she recognized the abbreviation HumE. She was pretty sure that was the Humanitarian Effort, but there was no time to be positive. Her finger hovered above the button to send out the video.

Would Barry get in trouble for this? What if Vintex was able to trace the signal back to his computer?

'No.' she thought. 'He made his own bed when he chose to work for this company. You don't get to pick and choose when to be nice, like that gets rid of all the bad.'

Her mother on the other hand, was a legitimate worry. There was no telling what would happen to her if the Humanitarian Effort couldn't save her in time. But May had to do something.

The button flashed when she pushed it and luckily made no noise.

May slipped back into her group before anyone had noticed she was gone. Venus finished her showcase with a swift hit to the side of her sisters head, and like that the battle was over.

Barry was going over their reports, what they did well and not so well, when President Chase answered his phone. May watched him take the call and grow silent. She was sure that he'd been alerted to their attempted escape, but his face showed no signs of anger. He merely walked over to a computer at the end of the room and began typing away.

"May," said Barry. "You need to make sure to keep your feet apart when you go into stance. You're strong like nothing I've ever seen before, but you could take a lesson or two from Venus about being swift-footed."

Did he just call them by their names? She looked at the others but they hadn't seemed to notice. Barry looked at her.

"Be fast. Because once things have been set in motion, you will not have time to catch your breath. Do you hear me?"

May didn't even have time to nod. An earth-shattering crack came from the ceiling above and the ceiling windows shattered, spilling glass onto the floor.

"RUN!" Barry screamed at them. "FIND THE ONES WITH BLACK SUITS!"

It wasn't hard to find what he was talking about. People covered head to toe in black bodysuits were streaming in through the shattered windows. Their faces were covered and they were yelling something that May couldn't understand. There was a ringing in the air that made it near impossible to distinguish anything. Finally, May was able to gather her bearings and look around. She immediately saw why Barry was telling them to run. The guards had advanced on them and he was fighting to clear the way for Venus and 2. May grabbed Danielle and pulled her along. Amongst the confusion, a guard grabbed Danielle and yanked her away. Barry pushed May yelling, "I've got her. Go!"

Dust had fallen from the ceiling and the falling debris and shaking ground made it hard to walk but May had set her sights on two black suited people on the far edge of the wall. Not knowing what else to do, she slowly made her way towards them.

President Chase grabbed the back of her neck. She gasped and reeled around.

"You think that you and I are done?" he seethed. "You were always a bigger purpose than this."

He pulled out his phone and pointed it to her ankle bracelet. It beeped loudly and turned red.

"Tell anybody about that monitor and it'll explode. So do yourself a favor. Find the man in your locket, and kill him. You'll be the best assassin this world has ever known."

He laughed loudly and released her. She fell back, stunned. When a black suit caught her, she was numb and didn't even realize she was being carried away. The people in charge of her now were yelling into their devices, and she was being hoisted out of the gym, but it was all a blur to May.

Sunlight hit her face and she squinted, shielding her eyes from the light.

"I've got one of them," said a woman's voice. It occurred to May that she was the one carrying her. "I'm sending her in a shuttle to the station. We have to get these kids out of here."

Her radio crackled as they approached a pod of some sort. May hadn't seen what happened to the others, and all she could think about was if they were ok. The lady handed her off to someone else as the pod door opened.

"Go with her," she orderd. "Find out what planet she came from and get her home."

"I can stay here and help take down this organization," the new stranger argued.

"Peter, we've got it. We've been looking for Vintex for years, this isn't your battle to win."

Without another word the lady left and Peter loaded her into the pod before stepping in himself. It was cramped and May had to put her feet against the window in order for the door to close. He shifted awkwardly in his seat before pressing some buttons on the tiny dashboard to make the pod lurch forward.

"I'm gonna be honest with you," he said. "I don't remember how to work this thing at all."

May stayed quiet, feeling unassured.

Finally, the pod levitated from the ground and slowly spun into the sky. They were slowly making their way to the station. He pulled his knee to his chest in order to mess with the other half of the dashboard and May found herself looking out the window. Vintex grew smaller and smaller in the background.

"You doing ok?" he asked.

May nodded. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye.

"What's your name?" she asked.

He relaxed a little.

"Peter Quill. You can call me Starlord though, pretty much everyone does."

She scrunched up her face.

"That's dumb."

"Ok."

When the planet of Lawkus became nothing but tiny squares of land and light beneath them, the pod rose into the docking bay at the station and began the process of settling down. When the door opened they practically tumbled out. May got up, brushing the dirt from her pants. Peter took a towel from the inside of his jacket and offered it to her.

"You've got dust from the ceiling collapse all over the place," he laughed. "Not that it isn't a cute look. You just might want to clean up before we take your statement."

"Do it for me? I can't see."

He wiped the towel across her forehead and cheeks, washing off dust, sweat, and bits of blood as well.

"I'm sorry everything's happening so fast right now," he said.

"It's ok. I guess I was warned."

He dropped the towel back in the pod and knelt to look at her.

"Before we go in there, I need to know where to drop you off so I can start setting the coordinates. Vintex has claws everywhere, so we've gotta get you guys out of here."

May thought back to what President Chase had said.

 _"_ _Find the man in your locket, and kill him."_

She looked at Starlord, staring steadily into his eyes.

"Take me to Earth."


	5. Chapter 5

May didn't want to die, but that wasn't what drove her decision.

What made her flip the off switch to her emotions and begin the meticulous planning to end the life of a man she'd never met was the memory of the poorly masked fear in her mother's eyes during their last visitation. She was still down there on the planet of Lawkus somewhere, and Vintex wouldn't think twice about…

May shook the thought from her head.

Vintex built an assassin, and that's exactly what she would be until she and her mother were safe again. She thought about tossing the locket away to rot in the garbage, but decided it would be useful to find the right person.

Hiding her ankle bracelet from the onboard doctor proved challenging, but she was finally cleared for access to the rest of the ship. The ticking time bomb on her leg was about the same as having President Chase standing over her at all times. She couldn't stop shuddering, but it looked like anxiety from what everyone figured a "traumatic event" would seem like to her. Someone whose face May didn't bother to see led her to her room where she closed the door immediately and fell down on a boring white bed.

She had given her statement several hours earlier. It was perhaps the first time in her life where she had been treated her age, and it was frankly humiliating. She was able to give the rundown of Vintex's inside operation, but when the Peace Officer asked how old she was, May had frozen up. The answer was of course only three months, but if they didn't assume she was insane then it would start raising questions.

"6 years," she lied.

They must have bought it because the officer scribbled in his notepad and continued on with the interview.

After the ordeal of testifying was over, May had gotten to see Danielle, Venus, and 2. It was wonderful to know that everyone had made it out, but she wasn't sad when they were separated again. May had a lot going through her head and her friends would only distract her from her planning.

A brisk knock on the door and May's eyes flew open. She hadn't even realized that she was drifting off to sleep, but now she was quite peeved at the interruption. She rolled off of the bed and open the door, rubbing her eyes groggily and yawning at Peter Quill.

"What?" The word came out as a whine.

"I just wanted to check on you," he said. "Can I come in, or do I get to stand in the hallway?"

May stepped back and waved his way through. He bowed and grinned goofily and she caught herself laughing. Her tiny room consisted of the bed, a desk and chair, and a small bathroom near the front door. Peter pulled out the chair and sat at the desk and she settled for leaning against the wall.

"We'll arrive at Earth tomorrow..." he started.

"Am I going to have to suffer through another horrible pod ride with you?"

"It wasn't that bad… I thought I drove pretty good."

"It's pretty 'well'," May corrected. "And it's your fat butt that really put the icing on the cake."

"You're pleasant." He smiled and tossed a laminated card to her, which she caught. "That's your temporary passport. When we get you to the H.E. holding station they'll find your family and get you home as soon as they can. I promise it won't take too long."

'No, it won't,' May thought to herself. 'Because I'll be long gone before they can figure out who I am.'

"Anyways," Peter continued. "You didn't say anything about how Vintex got ahold of you during the interview with the Peace Officer. Why is that?"

May shrugged.

"I don't feel like talking about it."

She was lucky that nobody at the Humanitarian Effort recognized how brilliant she was. It was easy to get away with all the question dodging when all they saw was a dumb little girl.

"Alright. Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Try to get some sleep tonight."

"If you wanted me to get some sleep then don't interrupt me next time," she kicked the side of the bed and smirked. "Jerk."

Earth was beautiful from space, but not so much from the ground. Maybe May was being overly pessimistic, but everything was much too bright. She had been led through a busy city and escorted straight into the H.E. building, a short and long winding brick structure that was very monotonous and white on the inside. Peter said his goodbyes as soon as they hit the waiting room and May got the feeling that he didn't like being there. A horde of people swarmed around her at every step she took, all in the same white uniform and talking in the same fake-worried voices. A lady led her down a corridor, fastened a bracelet with her name and ID number to her wrist, and opened a door to a tiny cell-like space deemed as "her room". May took one look at the windowless grey room and knew that this would be no good.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Oh of course darling!" The woman cooed. May hated when they did that.

As they walked back down the corridor, they passed Danielle and her white clad guardian.

"May!" Danielle squealed, throwing her hands up. "I can't believe we all made it! When do you think it'll start feeling like home again? I barely even remember what Earth was like."

May smiled and shrugged. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She waved awkwardly and mentioned something about talking soon before continuing down the corridor. When they arrived at the bathroom, her guardian was kind enough to smile and wait outside the door. Once inside, May stooped over and scanned the bottoms of the stalls for feet. When she saw that she was alone, her eyes scoped the walls.

A window led out to the street below. Bingo. May began to tug on the glass but saw an immediate problem. The window had been barred. H.E. was used to housing much bigger threats than her, nonetheless this wouldn't stop her.

She hesitated for only a moment, thinking about the other girls. They were her only friends, and it pained her to not say goodbye.

She slid the glass open and grabbed onto two bars. Pulling with all her might, they creaked and groaned. Eventually, the metal began to bend. She grunted, using all of the extra strength that she had been born into until the bars had been moved apart and she was able to crawl through them.

Her feet dangled above a dumpster, and without hesitation she jumped into it and looked around. There was a large chain link fence surrounding the area. She tumbled out of the dumpster and shook on the fence. It seemed steady. Within a few seconds she was at the top of the fence, and she dropped to the ground on the other side with no problem.

She could hear the sounds of the busy street ahead. It wouldn't take long for her to get lost, but still, she'd have to be quick. She needed information: a place to start.

The people of New York were much too busy to mind the little girl with messy blonde pigtails as she weaved in and out of their busy strides. She eventually wiggled her way into a coffee shop and walked over to a computer in the back of the room. Maybe if she pretended like she belonged, nobody would question her. Seemed to be working so far.

It took her 30 seconds to learn about Captain America. Another 10 and she knew about Tony Stark, and he carried the most important information—A place to start. She wasn't too far from Stark Tower, in fact she could even see the picture perfect glass building from the coffee shop window.

An intentionally unruly looking man with a messy bun and a full beard called out to her from behind the counter.

"Hey man, it's a dollar a minute for the internet."

But May had already closed the page and was halfway to the door.

She squinted up at the building, feeling the weight of her ankle bracelet like it was an immovable anchor. Why was it so hard to breathe? She saw cameras placed in every corner of the entrance.

"God," she whispered to herself. "What was I thinking?"

The bracelet hit her with a tiny zap and she jumped as if it had bitten into her foot.

Could they… hear her?

She could barely breathe. Her eyes closed and she rested her head in her hands.

"Calm down May. First step. A place to start."

She looked up at the building again. The security was top notch and far above anything she was prepared to deal with. There had to be another way.

Taking a deep breath and instinctively clutching the locket in her palm, she walked up to what looked like a doorbell and pressed it.


	6. Chapter 6

"Mr. Stark… You have… you have an… um…"

Tony wheeled around the corner and raised his eyebrows at the janitor.

"Is it a way to go back in time and smack myself before I sign up to work on this fundraiser? Because it is killing my free time, not that I had any in the first place but you know… it'd be nice to not have to clock in my bathroom breaks."

May poked her head into the doorway and the janitor pointed to her.

"You have… that."

May did her best to smile. Tony looked to her and then back to the janitor.

"How'd she get in here."

"She was at the door, sir. She insisted on coming in and ran past me."

"Yeah but we have security measures for stuff like this."

"None of which would be acceptable on a six-year-old."

He nodded reluctantly and knelt down to May.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping for a DNA test," said May.

"That's… not a usual request."

"And a collective-tissue scan."

"Why?" He scrunched up his mouth, seeming to remember that normal little girls don't talk like this. "And how are you…"

Her eyes widened and she tilted her head forward as if to say 'Wouldn't you wanna know?'

He clapped his hands together and stood up.

"You know what? Sure. Anything to get away from putting my initials on hundreds of lines for the rest of the evening."

The janitor gave him a look but Tony shrugged it off.

"It's fine. I doubt anyone's going to get assassinated by an overeducated child."

What on gods name had she gotten herself into? Not even her first day on Earth and now she was standing on a dimly lit circular table and having a computer read out everything she had known about herself for the past 3 months of her life. Tony held her arm out straight and a tiny needle pricked her arm, and the tests immediately began running up on every screen around them. From the moment he hit the button to start the scan there were about 5 seconds before his eyes narrowed and he turned his gaze back to her. 5 seconds. And he knew everything.

Well, everything that he needed to.

"How's this possible?"

"An illegal corporation on a planet called Lawkus had an intense desire to collect specimens that they could use for operations that required their assassins to be in the direct public eye."

"But you're his…"

"Yes."

Tony pulled a screen between them and scrolled through the information.

"That has its own complications… Shit. Just wait here."

He left the room and she sat in the middle of the table. He hadn't seen the ankle bracelet. Good. Now all that was left was for him to call in her father and then she'd… she would… Shit. She didn't even have a gun. From what the internet told her, she wouldn't very well be able to strangle Captain America with her own hands either.

Another door led out into the building and she knew that she'd have to chance it. She dashed out into the hallway and began looking frantically around. She opened a door, nothing. Another door, files. Another one, more files. But this third room had a safe stashed against the back wall. She held her ankle bracelet against the lock and they clicked back and forth at each other, but eventually the lock let out a puff of smoke and the safe creaked open. She rushed to shove it open and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god Tony Stark wasn't a full-blown pacifist.

She took a rifle that seemed familiar to the ones she was used to working with and ran silently back to the clinic room.

Just as she entered, the door opened and she slid the gun underneath a table topped with medical supplies. Tony closed the door behind them and went back to her charts.

"If it's ok," he started, "I'd rather save all the questions for when… he gets here. I'm sure we'd both like to get this over with in one go."

That would be best.

"Sure."

"It won't be long." He pointed to the charts. "But do you already know about this?"

May nodded.

"All of it?"

She nodded again.

"Care if I run some more tests while we wait?"

"If you're wondering how long I'm supposed to live, the doctors gave me a few months." She waved off his sympathetic look. "But by all means, test away. I've got nowhere to be."

The edge of the gun was poking out from under the medical cart so she nudged it with her toe until it was completely hidden.


	7. Chapter 7

"We can go to another room, you know. There's no reason we have to wait in here."

May crinkled her nose at this.

"No," she said. "I'd just... I'd rather stay here."

Hopefully being so young would excuse her suspicious behavior. It seemed to work pretty well for normal children. Mr. Stark seemed to hold onto a thought for a moment, but then let it go.

"Whatever works for you."

May looked at the clock. It had been several hours already, so how much longer would it take for her to finally see her father? The metal bracelet on her ankle had begun to itch, which was most likely in her head. It was understandable, considering that she had never killed an innocent man before. And according to the internet, not only was her father innocent, but he's done a lot of good as well. But her mother was family. He was just a stranger.

A stranger that she had carried in a heart shaped locket on her charm bracelet from the very day she was born.

God she was driving herself up the wall. Why does the clock run so damn slow?

"Got a lot on your mind?" asked Tony.

May nodded.

A small green dot began flashing on the monitor in front of him. Tony threw back the rest of whatever drink he had poured for himself and stood up.

"Alright. I'll go get him. I won't say anything, just stay here."

"Gotcha."

The door closed behind him and May scooted her chair over to the cart that hid her gun. She laid her foot on the edge of its handle and waited, her heart beating out of her chest.

Footsteps sounded from the other side of the door. Then voices rose from behind the metal.

Something inside May went calm, which was odd considering she had never felt more out of control in her life. She used the ever-increasing weight of the ankle bracelet to pull her back to earth, and with a few steadying breaths, she thumped the gun reassuringly and smiled.

The door opened and her smile faded.

Her hair and eyes were something she had gotten from her mother, she had been sure of it. But now she wasn't. Her father smiled at her and it was a shame that he'd have to die without knowing who she was.

Stop. Emotions had no place in an assassin. That's what Barry always said. But there was one day when he hadn't felt well. He was grumbling all day and let something slip that he very well shouldn't have.

 _"You get to choose,"_ Barry had said. _"You, May."_

Steve Rogers walked towards her and Tony stayed behind him at the door. With every bit of courage she had, May dragged the gun from under the medical table in one fluid motion and kicked it into her hands.

They moved fast. Faster than she expected, but she had been trained too well. The first shot rang out and Steve fell back.

"Stark!" he called.

"On it."

Tony's hand was wrapped in a segment of the iron suit that May knew him to wear. Within a second he blasted the gun from her hands and pinned her to the cold tile floor.

"I HAVE TO KILL YOU," May screamed, thrashing left to right. They could hear her. She knew they could. "I HAVE TO!"

 _'You get to choose.'_

May chose.

She made her decision when she flung herself around on the floor and the bottom of her jeans rolled up, exposing the bracelet which was flashing and whirring mechanically.

She saw it click on their faces. Tony used his iron wrapped hand to shoot out the window in the room, which Steve dodged, clutching his shoulder. Tony pinned May's arms behind her and her father ran towards her with his shield. He didn't hesitate when he raised it above her. May shut her eyes and turned away.

Metal sparked, pain shot through her ankle, and the bracelet came off and was slung through the open window without a second to spare. The explosion it created pushed everyone to the floor and probably did a number to the lower levels of the building.

"Holy shit. Are you ok?"

May couldn't respond to the voice. Vintex was never beat so easily, and the burning pain spreading into her chest was a testament to that.

"She's been poisoned," said Tony. "Hand me the stabilizer."

May wasn't sure what a stabilizer was, but it was stuck to her chest, a needle poked into her arm, both of which were followed by the most monotonous computer tones she had ever heard. The needle in her arm burner hotter than whatever the bracelet had stuck her with and eventually her vision blacked out and her head rolled back.

"No more surprises. Got it?"

She narrowed her eyes at Tony in response.

"Take it easy on her," said Steve.

"Yeah, take it easy on me."

May shifted uncomfortably in the bed. She wasn't bothered by the immobilizers on her wrists, but she hated sitting still. There was still too much adrenaline in her body to relax.

"She just woke up. Can the interrogation wait?"

May looked at Steve for the first time. Since shooting him, she had been too scared. But here he was, as good as her mother had promised.

"If she's well enough to come in here guns blazing then she's well enough to answer some questions."

May pulled against the constraints on her arms. At first, Tony smiled, but when the metal began to creak, he and Steve moved into a defensive position. Within another second May pulled the metal apart and tossed it onto the floor. She took the charm bracelet from her wrist and tossed it to her father.

"You're my dad. The serum they gave you worked its way into your DNA and was passed down to me, but it doesn't work the same in my body. I'm 3 months old, and I'm dying. Your girlfriend was captured by an illegal company called Vintex when she was pregnant and when she had me, they trained me to be an assassin."

They looked at her with blank stares and open mouths.

"No more surprises," she promised.

The examination room seemed smaller the second time she stood on the round table. Tony spun the monitors around and showed them to Steve faster than he could comprehend.

"Her body is fighting the serum instead of absorbing it like yours did. So it comes in spurts, she's had two so far, and each one nearly kills her."

"Gets worse each time," May added.

"See how it's not really bonded to her DNA? It just kind of floats there."

"But she's my daughter? How?"

"There's no question to it, and the whole condom on the banana thing? Yeah that's just an example. You have to actually..."

"Ok yes. Thank you."

He looked like he was going to be sick. May walked to the edge of the table and put her hand on his shoulder somewhat hesitantly.

"I'm sorry I shot you," she mumbled.

"You were just trying to survive. It's not your fault."

May shook her head.

"Even if I had died, they wouldn't be done punishing me. I was trying to protect mom."

"She's still alive?"

"I don't know."

May had never been the affectionate type. In fact, when she wrapped her arms around her father and hung from his neck, she reminded herself of a sloth. This thought made her laugh, and it surprised her when tears came to her eyes. Steve didn't hesitate to hug her back, and that was her favorite part about him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Since I've been on a hiatus since FREAKING MARCH WTF, I had to go back and reread the old chapters.**

 **god. I couldn't do it. I cringed myself into oblivion. There's just going to be continuity errors and I'm sorry.**

 **2.I still have no idea what's going on, but I kinda like it.**

May *loved* TV. She loved the overly dramatic day time soap operas, and the cartoons where trains ran around with creepy faces, and she even loved the commercials. There was one about a Roomba that especially caught her attention.

"At least she's easy to entertain."

May kept her eyes glued to the screen as Tony picked her up and set her back down on a small metal disk. The Roomba commercial kept going and she watched with fascination.

Suddenly, the ground below her feet whirred to life. She yelped, then looked at what she was standing on.

"I guarantee you'll get a much better debris clean-up ratio with this rather than their glorified carpet plunger." Tony looked from the TV Roomba to the flashing, white, shiny disk under her feet. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I should've been a vacuum salesman. Yeah... door to door, inviting myself in, selling expensive vacuums to people who just want me to leave already... What do you think buddy?"

Steve didn't answer. He was still sitting on the edge of the couch with his gaze fixated on the nearest window.

May's attention jerked back to the disk she was standing on as it spun around. She wobbled, throwing her arms out to keep from falling off, and watched in amazement as the "better vacuum" moved around the floor. It picked up bits of dirt from her shoes before turning around sharply, nearly sending her flying once more. She squatted down and gripped the sides. A little button on the front started to flash so she pressed it and the disk started spinning. She gripped tighter as it spun faster and faster, until she was finally thrown off. Her back slammed into a wall and she ignored Steve and Tony's startled looks as she immediately stood back up and started giggling.

"That was fun!" She looked back at the wall, seeing that she had left a decent sized hole in the plaster. "Oh... Sorry about that."

She brushed her shirt off and put one hand on the disk to stop it. It whirred in protest until she hit the button again, and then it went back to normal. She put her hands on her hips and looked around. Avengers tower was much more barren than she anticipated. Steve knelt beside her and felt along the broken wall, more plaster falling away as he touched it.

"Good thing you're already moved out," he said.

Tony shrugged.

"Wait," said May. "What do you mean you moved out?" She grabbed onto Steve's hand as he stood up and hung there, swinging back and forth. "Are we going on a road trip? You know I'm technically required by law to have a booster seat. I heard some lady yelling about that in a coffee shop. Just saying."

"I'm sure we'll find something," said Steve, smiling just a bit as he lifted her into the air.

On the outside, the van was black, shiny, and obnoxious. On the inside, the seats were a luscious sort of cream pleather with a built in fridge to May's left, cupholders filled with bubbling water bottles, and somehow tying together to be even more obnoxious than the outside view. Still, she loved it. She grabbed a candy from the nearest basket and unwrapped it, pulling out a long red rope that wiggled back and forth as she shook it with curious delight.

Three or four blankets had been crammed under her, which had to be just as good as a booster seat, and she tilted her chin to see outside. Steve slid in beside her, followed by Tony, and then the car was moving.

"Can cars drive themselves on Earth?" asked May.

Tony tapped against the glass behind him. The tinted glass rolled down a smidgen and the driver waved from the front seat before rolling the glass back up.

"Oh," she said, cramming the rope candy into her mouth.

"Can you tell us anything else?" asked Steve. "Anything that could help get Sharon back?"

May held out her sticky hand, trying to decide where to wipe it. Tony coughed and nodded towards a wipe dispenser which she grabbed for.

"Yeah." She nodded, scrunching her nose as she thought. "I was sick when I was born. Really sick. Vintex tried their best to keep me alive but eventually they gave up and let my mother have me thinking I'd just shrivel up and die anyways. I did better with her, growing stronger and stronger every day. I don't remember that first change. I guess I went from newborn to toddler. It nearly killed me, but Vintex knew what to look for now and they predicted exactly when the next one would happen. A month or so later-and I remember this one- I went from toddler to how I look now. I had to be hooked up to machines to survive."

She wadded up the wipe and shoved it into a trash can.

"What kind of machines?" Tony asked.

"I dunno. One breathed for me. One replaced the blood my body kept poisoning. Lot's of shots. Oh yeah, I remember my skin wasn't growing fast enough so they had to cut it in some places so my ribs could grow." She pulled her shirt down, showing three long vertical scars on her chest. "Barry called them tiger stripes."

"I'm sorry," said Steve. It seemed like he didn't know what else to say so May shook her head.

"I didn't feel that at all. The changes are the absolute worst pain you could experience, so anything added onto it just can't possibly be registered by my brain." She readjusted the seatbelt and leaned back, watching the highway pass by. "As for Vintex, as long as they think I'm dead, they'll take their time getting here. They will come though."

Tony smiled and stuck a pink straw into a water bottle. "Great. Let them come."

May had fallen asleep at some point. She woke up as she was being carried through a white hallway.

"Hey," said Steve.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and swung behind him, climbing and kicking until she was perched neatly on his shoulders.

"Hasn't been much time to decorate," Tony explained, several yards ahead of them. "We'll get some artwork in here eventually. Or someone will. Probably Vision." He stopped at the first window and looked out. He tapped against the glass and sighed. "That's... that's something I have to take care of. You two wait here. Cap, I'm embarrassingly serious, don't let anyone see you."

"You think I don't know that?"

Tony shrugged and walked on without them. Steve leaned against the wall, just out of sight of the window and drummed his fingers against the wall.

"Mom always said you smelled like the ocean."

"Well, do I?"

"I don't know what the ocean smells like." May rested her chin on his head and sighed. "Maybe she's ok. Maybe..."

Before he could say anything, May swung down from his shoulders and pressed her face to the window. She squinted into the courtyard and watched as Tony strolled between several people, one of whom was floating, and approached a kid with brown hair and cream backpack. She caught her breath.

"Who's _that_?"

"What?" Steve grabbed her arm, stopping just momentarily to look at who she was pointing at. "That's Peter... Parker... I think? Don't worry about him." He pulled her away from the window and sat down. She slid down on the wall and sat beside him, thinking.

"Oh my goodness. He's perfect." A smile crossed her face and Steve laughed.

"What? No. Don't go doing that. If you're going to be my little girl, fine, but don't go crushing on Spider-Man of all people."

Her hand flew to her mouth to suppress a snicker. "Spider... what?"

Footsteps echoed from the hallway walls and within a few seconds Tony had joined them again.

"Sorry about that." He felt along the wall, finally pressing a button that made the windows darken.

"Alright. Let's get this little ball of spunk into the examining room. See if we can take a card from the bad guys and get ahead of the disease before you go through another... what are you calling them? Changes?"

May nodded. She jumped up, stretched, and jogged ahead.

"No running!" They yelled at her.

"I'm speedwalking!" She yelled back. As she got enough momentum, she put her hands to the floor and somersaulted over. She flipped again, this time twisting as she landed, and then another. She straightened up, readjusted her sleeves, and let the disappointment flow over her. That wasn't nearly as effortless as usual. It was happening. The changes always started like this. She'd spend a couple weeks getting weak and sick, until she was just on the verge of death. This was the part she was going into now-the downhill.

In a few weeks she'd recover. She'd get impossibly strong for a few days and everything would be fine. That's the uphill. But at the top of every mountain was the change. One day, she'd collapse out of nowhere. Her blood would burn and her mind would detach from her body and all she'd feel is pain. May knew that no matter what equipment was waiting for them in the examining room, it wouldn't be able to stop that.

But she smiled over her shoulder anyways and waited patiently for them to catch up.


	9. Chapter 9

May smiled at the dummy in front of her, then she took a final sweep of the room to make sure she was alone, and then she stood in front of it again, sticking her tongue out. It didn't respond, so she marched forward and tapped the target on its belly.

"I'm at the height of my power," she warned it. "Crazy power too. Like... I could smash your beige body through this very wall and-"

Her head jerked as she heard laughing from outside the training room. It passed, and she breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Am I crazy?"

The dummy stared back with glazed eyes.

"Nah, you're right. I'm just spirited."

And with that, she drew back and slammed her fist into the target. Stuffing exploded from his back and the metal pole up his butt snapped. His corpse clattered to the ground and May smiled, turning to a mirror. Her arms were beginning to define, her posture straightening, and as stuffing floated down from the air, she wanted to get one last look at herself before...

She pressed her forehead to the cool glass and sighed.

She laid flat on the table just like Tony asked. Her father would talk and she'd turn her head to listen, then Tony would speak and she'd turn the other way, back and forth, on and on, until her ponytail had been completely ruined.

"I think we have a really good chance of fighting this," Tony concluded.

May started to smile, but then she faltered. What was she doing? She knew the plan wouldn't work. Vintex had tried the same thing and they had barely pulled her back from the brink, so why was she lying to them?

"It won't work," she said flatly. To prove it, she stood and placed both hands underneath the metal table. With hardly any effort, she lifted from either side until a sharp groan pierced the air, followed by the table folding in half. "I've never been this strong before. Which means, I'll never have been this sick either. I'm sorry."

The taco table was scooted away and Steve knelt in front of her.

"You'll try though," he said. "We have to take whatever situation we have, and try. That's what your mother did, isn't it?"

Her mother. There was another depressing thought. May nodded weakly.

"Good." Steve rested a hand on her shoulder. "Tony, can she go out to the courtyard? I know you'd rather the others not see her, but she's human. She needs some sun."

"Yeah." Tony flipped through page after page, drumming his fingers into the virtual monitor before them. "But you should come right back. I might be able to run additional diagnostics through you."

May bounded through the door and ran through the hallway. She turned back, watching her father jog to catch up, and jumped high enough to hang from a ceiling fan. He grabbed her just as it started to creak.

"No need to be destructive." He smiled, and she found herself doing the same.

"Where'd you meet my mom?"

"Funny story, actually."

But in that moment, her heart stopped. She could see out the window and into the courtyard, and it's was empty except for one person.

"Down..." she whispered.

"What?"

"I said down, man!" She scrambled down and sprinted through the hallways, slowing to a cheerful skip as she approached the double doors. There, she stopped, adjusted her hair, and turned back to her confused father.

"How do I look?"

"Er-"

And then she was pushing through the doors. She walked straight to the bench and sat next to the boy with her legs criss-cross and her chin perched delicately in her hand.

"Hello," she cooed.

May could just hear her father mutter an 'oh good lord' just before closing the doors behind her. She waved to him, and turned back to Peter.

"Nice weather," she said. "Isn't it?"

He pulled his eyes away from his phone, saw her, and his eyebrows knotted in confusion. "What...?"

"Personally, I think the sun's too bright."

"Who...? I mean yeah, it's way too bright for spring, but like... who are you?"

"May. Pretty name, isn't it?"

"You're adorable." He reached out and pat her head.

The leaves shuddered and Peter squinted at the windows around them. May turned back to the doors as well, feeling as though something wasn't quite right. She stood on the bench and stared into the sky. It was blue, cerulean, a bit of an aqua or turqoisey, and then it was suddenly lilac. May felt her throat tighten.

She rushed into the building and flew down the halls, up the stairs, into the laboratory, and crawled over her father's lap to get to the window.

"They're here," she hissed. "They found me. How'd they find me? The tracker was destroyed in New York. How...?"

"Calm down." Steve put both hands on her shoulders to keep her still. "We're on it. You're ok."

May looked at the screen in front of them. The computer had outlined Vintex's invisible spaceship and was following its decent by the mark.

"Get to the jet," said Tony.

May started to move, but they both shook their heads.

"I'm going," she said. "Keep me away from Vintex all you want, but I will see my mother."

May's jitters had only intensified by the time they loaded into the jet. She bounced up and down at her father's side, barely stopped by his heavy hand pressing in her shoulder.

"Sorry," she muttered for the third time. "This is just crazy. How'd they get here so fast?"

"Promise you'll stay in the plane?"

"I'll try my best."

He didn't look at all like the pictures on the internet. There wasn't enough time for a wild costume, so he was stuck in a mismatched plaid shirt and dirtied khakis. However, he did have his shield.

"Tony will meet us up there," he said. "Vision will provide ground support, and we have enough suppression power to prevent this from spreading out... keep damages contained-"

She couldn't stop staring at his shield. Even with the minimal light in the jet, it shone violently.

"Do you understand?"

She blinked, looking back at him. "Yes."

"Good. She's going to be ok, May. You have to trust us to-"

"Hey guess what?"

Steve cocked his head and she giggled.

"He said I was adorable. Adorable, dad."

"Oh good lord." His arms wrapped around her as the jet shook, finally taking off.


End file.
